Coach: Paul Wiseman
Captain: Jesse Tashkoff
Last time: Eighth
Previous best: Second in 1998
Team Overview: The Kiwis have always been one of the best-performing sides in the World Cup at the senior level. They have made it to the knockout stages of the World Cup more than most other sides. But the same can’t be said about the Under-19 colts. The U-19 side has always been an underachiever at the world stage. They ended up as the second-best team once in 1998 but have largely underperformed after that. The last edition, in particular, was disastrous for them as they finished at a lowly eighth position despite having home advantage in their favour. So they would be eager to fare better this time around as the tournament.
Their squad this time gives a good look though. There is plenty of all-round strength with the top-order batsmen capable of delivering some handy number of overs with the ball. Players like Ollie White and Jesse Tashkoff bowl left-arm orthodox spin while occupying positions in the top four of their batting order. There are some exciting talents like Adithya Ashok and Fergus Lellman in the side as well.
Ashok, a leg-spinner, has been known for picking up wickets at will in New Zealand’s domestic cricketing circles. He can be expected to be among the top wicket-takers by the end of the tournament. While Lellman is a real prospect to watch out for with the bat. He has played half the number of matches as Tashkoff or White but has scores of 116*, 76 and 56 in recent youth one-day matches against Bangladesh.
So the squad looks to be in good shape leading into this mega event but they are placed in Group A alongside India, Sri Lanka and Japan. While they can expect themselves to romp past Japan pretty easily, New Zealand has to be at their absolute best against India and Sri Lanka. One wrong step there and they might find themselves out of the tournament sooner than anyone would expect.
Squad
Jesse Tashkoff (c), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Hayden Dickson, Joey Field, David Hancock, Simon Keene, Fergus Lellman, Nicholas Lidstone, Rhys Mariu, William O’Rourke, Ben Pomare, Quinn Sunde (wk), Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, Ollie White
Fixtures
Saturday, January 18: New Zealand v Japan (Absa Puk Oval, Potchefstroom)
Wednesday, January 22: New Zealand v Sri Lanka (Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein)
Friday, January 24: India v New Zealand (Mangaung Oval)